Labour and the Liberal Democrats leaders in Gloucestershire say the county will still have a strong opposition voice despite the Conservatives' majority win last night.

Tory candidates throughout Gloucestershire were in triumphant mood last night as they secured a majority of 31 seats on the county council - more than enough to run the authority on their own.

Liberal Democrats failed to make any gains but held onto their 14 seats, while it was a disappointing night for Labour who now have just five representatives on the council after losing in four areas.

Councillor Mark Hawthorne, who will return as leader of the Conservatives in Gloucestershire after retaining his Quedgeley seat, said his party now has a clear mandate to deliver its manifesto promises.

But Liberal Democrats and Labour say the Tories will still be held to account.

Read More

Mr Hawthorne said: "We're always very hopeful we will do well in local elections but the results across the county were fantastic. There was a huge amount of gains on seats.

"To have a majority of nine is really great news.

"What we saw was a huge surge of support for the Conservative party."

The gains for the Conservatives have come as the Labour vote collapsed in some of its core areas in the county – mirroring the national picture.

Labour lost three seats they had held in Gloucester, Barton and Tredworth, Grange and Kingsway and Tuffley, and and also in Dursley where Steve Lydon, leader of Stroud District Council, lost his seat.

But despite their disappointing night Labour did gain one seat - for Nailsworth - from the Conservatives.

Councillor Lesley Williams, leader of Labour in Gloucestershire who held her Stonehouse seat, denied the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn had any effect on the local result.

She said: "It's disappointing that we're down to the five members. We still have work to do and we will carry on doing it. The important thing is we will keep working hard for residents we represent and beyond.

"We will be at all times holding the Tories to account. We were nine now we're five people - it will make us have to work harder.

"People are much more concerned about what's going on in their areas. It concerns me that not enough people vote - the turnout in some parts of the county was pretty low."

Read More

The Liberal Democrats are still the main opposition party as they retained all their seats with tough fights in some key marginals.

Lib Dem leader Paul Hodgkinson, who retained his Bourton-on-the-Water and Northleach seat, said: "The Conservatives clearly are doing well across the whole country. We did OK to hold onto what we had - we were under a lot of pressure in some places - particularly in parts of Cheltenham and Gloucester.

"Of course we wanted to increase the the numbers but we have to be realistic about it. Clearly the general election did have a major impact on the local elections.

"It changed the whole dynamic - up until that point we were talking about local issues. As soon as the Prime Minister called the General Election it changed everything and the narrative became about the national stuff."